On the classifying signs in criminal legislation of the Russian Federation

The analysis of classifying signs set out in the Criminal Codes of the Russian SFSR of 1960 and of Russian Federation of 1996 in a first edition and as of December 2015 is made on the basis of comparative law research: on the object, the objective side, subject, subjective side. Parts of classifying signs defining a various elements of crime are compared. Influence of changes in different spheres of public life on classifying signs is researched: modification of classifying signs, implementation of ones and exclusion of another. Widespread signs of qualifying are excluded again. Also qualifying elements of the form “a person who has previously committed” are studied. New fixed aggravating circumstances - for example, “excise marks, special marks or marks of conformity, protected against counterfeiting”. It is concluded that there is a significant increase in qualified formulations in the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. Problems existing in criminal legislation are revealed: lack of statutory interpretation of evaluative categories; excessive broadening of types of classifying signs that turned into their semantic duplication.